Functional Medicine
A very science-based and precise approach | Extensive knowledge of human biochemistry | Personalized coachingFunctional Medicine and Functional Nutrition approach, is the future of Healthcare!
We work on restoring health for people all over the world, using 'Food as Medicine!
Functional Medicine and Functional Nutrition is an approach where the human body is seen as one interconnected system (and not dissected into different body parts and organs), and the focus is on finding and correcting the root causes of any chronic illness or symptom, that a person is dealing with.
Most of the root causes we see, are a result of either gut inflammation because of gut infections and food sensitivities, bad lifestyle habits and exposure to toxins leading to a dysfunctional immune system, and/or blocked detoxification pathways (i.e. liver, kidneys, intestines), and more.
People could be diagnosed with the same disease, but what caused the same symptoms in each person could vary. Working on correcting dietary and lifestyle changes and providing adequate nutrients to the body to start healing and functioning properly, is the key to putting diseases into remission slowly and steadily. This holds true for something as simple as constant cough, acid reflux, and headaches, to something as serious as depression, autism, or an autoimmune disease.
Functional Medicine v/s Conventional Medicine
Conventional approaches work on suppressing the symptoms only. Or they provide short-term relief or solutions.
As an example, When someone is diagnosed as having depression, in a conventional approach, you will probably be put on anti-depressants.
Many root causes could have caused the symptoms of depression. By itself, the disease is nothing but a collection of symptoms, and those symptoms, all happen due to a reason! Functional medicine works on all the factors that could lead up to the diagnosis of depression, in that person.
Lack of fats in the diet, lack of proteins and specific amino acids which are needed by the body to make neurotransmitters, reduced production of serotonin in the body because of an inflamed gut, lack of vitamin B12 and B6 which are needed to make neurotransmitters, are just some of the reasons why our brain wouldn't work as it should, and cause symptoms of depression.
Anti-depressants mostly are a short-term solution. Working on correcting the root causes is the answer to recovery!
One disease – many root causes!
One root cause – many diseases!
Both are a possibility!
For us, every case is unique and our approach for every individual is based on who that individual is, what is his health history, how was his health as a child, what are his life choices, how are his stress levels, how is his environment in which he is living, what are his habits like, is he exposed to any toxins, does he get good sleep, does he absorb nutrients from what he eats, is his digestion working fine? These are just some of the many things we look into, when we work with someone.
In very few cases, genetics play a big role. But otherwise, most of the chronic cases we see, are a result of exposure to toxins, bad eating habits, lack of proper nutrition, inflammation in the gut, lack of proper sleep, lack of movement, broken biochemical pathways, clogged detox pathways, and an overall bad lifestyle. And so, our approach includes a lot of functional nutrition, as well as health coaching.
What is Functional Nutrition?
Functional nutrition is a nutritional approach that focuses on fixing the gap between what the person eats, and what his body needs, to function optimally.
It is very different from what general nutritionists do, because our focus is on fixing the broken biochemistry, that could be leading to the symptoms in a person.
For example, a general nutritionist’s approach for a person having acid reflux would be to stop eating certain foods which aggravate the reflux, like tomatoes, citrus fruits etc. This can give some temporary relief, but the root cause of reflux is still there, waiting to be addressed!
We use foods and nutrients to heal and arrest the inflammation. We find out why the reflux started in the first place – was it because the sphincter in the food pipe got loose due to nutritional deficiencies (causing the acid to come up), or is there an overgrowth of H. Pylori bacteria in the gut causing the reflux, or does the person have an imbalanced thyroid which is further causing stomach acid imbalance? It’s all pure science! Address the root cause!
Conventional medicine says take pills and stop the acid from getting produced in the stomach. Take PPIs all your life! However, without stomach acid, how will you digest the food? Stomach acid is needed to break down the food we eat, and that’s why most people with acid reflux issues are constantly low on nutrients, because their body doesn’t absorb a lot from what they eat. They will constantly have low B12, low iron, low magnesium etc.